C.W.Stoneking @ The Spiegeltent

Just got back from seeing CW Stoneking and his Primitive Horn Orchestra at the Spiegeltent. It was a little like being trapped in a 1930’s movie where Cab Calloway is leading the house band.

I would like to say the CW is unique but that is a bold claim; however, I can say that in my musical travels in recent years I have not come across anyone quite like CW. So, unique for Australia, maybe.

He conjures up memories of what Van Dyke Parks did on his fabulous album Discover America, but I think CW is much more rooted in the blues. A friend mentioned Leon Redbone. I overheard someone say afterwards, ‘That couldn’t be his real voice, could it?’

I just missed CW and his entourage in Lafayette earlier this year when he played at the B&B we stayed in. They thought he was from Mississippi. He could be from Saturn where Sun Ra lived. The new album Jungle Blues is timeless and as my friend said tonight you feel as though there should the crackles of a 78 record in the background.

It was an amazing show and one that makes me glad to be back in Melbourne (for a while).

New Headline Photo

The photo I am using temporarily at the top of the page is of the Rooster Stage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. 

The review of the festival will be posted shortly, along with some photos.

I Left My Harp In San Francisco

I am just about to head off to the airport. I have packed and believe my suitcase is light enough to allow the plane to take off. Books and CDs are heavy, even when you take the CDs out of the jewel boxes. I am taking some of both in my carry on pack too.

Ron Sexsmith was superb at the Great American Music Hall last night. I interviewed him before the gig and will put it to air next week.

At the end of his set, just prior to performing ‘Secret Heart,’ he said, ‘This is my best known song and has been covered by a lot of people so I don;t know why I am not more successful.’ Neither do I. Working in trio format he was fantastic.

There have been some Beatles references in reviews of his latest album Exit Strategy Of The Soul and there are some similarities with McCartney in his writing and vocals but I truly beieve that Ron has written way more good songs than Macca in the past fifteen years.

After the gig I Iooked around and sitting directly behind me was David Byrne. I played it cool, nodded in his direction and ignored him. Not. I subtly walked up to him, shook his hand and thanked him for his gig that I saw on Monday night at Davies Hall which was sensational. I added that Remain In Light and Fear Of Music have not aged one day since they were originally released. He graciously thanked me and said he was glad I enjoyed his show. Thinking about it later, I wondered whether musicians want to be complimented on what they did nearly 30 years ago. Maybe I could have phrased it differently but there was no time to write a speech. What a great way to finish the trip.

The dollar slid again overnight. I am going to have to get some of those electric shock paddles to revive it when I get home.  I am still living on old dollars but they are running out. Some bastard from Lehman Brothers was being quizzed in the Senate the other day about why he paid himself US$500 million over the last few years when his company had gone broke. It wasn’t quite that much he said! They should shoot him.  Maybe someone will have the guts to introduce some legislation to curb the ridiculous amounts of money some of these CEOs are being paid, especially when their companies are failing. (I am starting to sound like my father).

Today I took my last walk around the Haight and ended up at Cha Cha Cha for lunch where I had the steak sandwich – great value for $8. One of the waitresses, Felicity, is an Aussie and her boyfriend is a member of a well-known band. I left then a bottle of red wine someone gave me. (I can’t drink red and I can’t take it home). But I would have bought them a present if I didn’t have the wine! She is coming to Melbourne to pursue her music career.

Anyway, I had best go. Talk to you soon. I am looking forward to getting back on air next week.

Cooder, Lowe & Keltner – Guitar, Bass & Drums

You can read my review of Ry and the boys at Rhythms: Nearly A Little Village

San Francisco

No, I am not wearing flowers in my hair but I am staying just a block or so up from where the Grateful Dead once lived on Ashbury Street.

We arrived last Tuesday, spent a night in the city at the excellent Hotel Fusion on Ellis Street and then rented a car and drove to Sonoma in the wine country, exploring the Napa Valley the next day. Arriving back in San Francisco we came to this basement apartment, which is cheaper than staying in a hotel, though the deal we got through Wotif fo the Fusion was fantastic – US$80 for the night. Not on a weekend, of course.

That night we went to the Great American Music Hall to see Guitar, Bass & Drums – Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and  Jim Keltner. (Read the review soon). I have to say I was ecstatic to see Cooder for the very first time and he was so brilliant I was in awe. The show was a benefit for Richard DeLone Housing Project. Thanks to Rob Pemberton, a susbcriber to the radio show who tipped me off during the Radiothon.

On Friday we checked out the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival site and it was good to reconnoitre this before things got fully underway. I thought we were near Golden Gate Park and planned to walk but did not realise the enormity of the park. Lucky we caught a bus because we would have been trudging about 30 blocks to get there. We saw some of Sharon Little and all of Jerry Douglas before heading off to the airport. Karen had to fly out so we got out there about 7.30pm and encountered an infuriating delay. Everyone in front of us seemed to have a problem and United, of course, were short-staffed. At one point one of the counter staff just packed up and left.

I caught the BART back into the city and enjoyed the second evening of Guitar, Bass & Drums. When I exited the hall it was pouring with rain but I walked up a block and got a cab, that took a route which was to cost me $5 more than the usual fare and left me walking three blocks in the rain in disgust. I knew I was in trouble when the cabie asked me, ‘Would Mason Street be a good way to go?

On the weekend I thoroughly exhausted myself at the HSBF and Monday night went to see David Byrne at Davies Hall in what was a spectacular show.

The reviews of HSBF etc will be up tomorrow or as soon as I can finish them.

Tonight I am off to see Armistead Maupin at a book launch and signing down at Booksmith on Haight. Tomorrow night I see Ron Sesxmith and then it is off home.

Soon after I woke up this morning I checked The Age online to find the dollar had crashed to 0.67 and nearly fainted. It reminded me of a Slim Whittle line (or it could have been Trevor Marmalade) who once said that the dollar was so low it was limbo dancing under the door.

Austin City Limits – Saturday & Sunday

Saturday September 27

The undoubted highlight of Saturday was the appearance of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss but that was at the end of the day and there was plenty to see beforehand.

I was keen to see Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and he and his band did not disappoint in the WaMu tent. I recently said that he is this year’s Sharon Jones and, ironically, Jones’ set on the AMD stage was underway when Reed came on.

Reed’s band The Trueloves, however, are not The Dap Kings – they are rougher, readier and not quite as tight. Still, they are very good indeed.

It is difficult at first to come to grips with the voice emanating from this young white guy who looks like he stepped out of a hot rod convention with his slicked back hair and polyester shirt. A couple of the songs on his debut album, Roll With You, are great and I am sure he will be a sensation when he hits Australia later this year. Everyone seemed to love him; he has some dramatic flourishes and relates really well to the audience.

But a few minutes after seeing Reed I saw the ‘real thing,’ some might say, in Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears whose soul blues struck a nerve with me. Here is an entirely different, more basic and, to me, more authentic music and I really liked Lewis’ cool attitude.

We managed to catch some of Robert Earl Keen, Conor Oberst (impressive), The Black Keys (ditto) and The Nachito Herrera All-Stars from Cuba (who really go the WaMu tent hopping). It was a little like sampling from a smorgasbord prior to getting to the AMD area for a spot to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

All the stage hopping meant that I missed John Fogerty and Roky Erickson but the chance to see Plant and Krauss in a better spot than I got to see them in New Orleans earlier this year was enticing. Not only that, a half hour into their set – when Beck had started on the AT&T stage – there was a mass exodus and we ended up just near the mixing desk with a terrific view.

The sound was brilliant too, interrupted only occasionally by Beck’s band. After an acoustic number, Plant said, “That was hard to do, especially with The Village People in the background.” I don’t think he was impressed.

With T Bone Burnett leading the band and Buddy Miller on guitar, it is certainly a formidable outfit. The songs came from the acclaimed Raising Sand, the Led Zeppelin back catalogue and even O Brother Where Are Thou? The set list included ‘She’s Got the Money,’ ‘Leave My Woman Alone,’ ‘Black Dog,’ ‘Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us,’ ‘Fortune Teller,’ The Battle Of Evermore,’ ‘Down To The River To Pray’ and Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Nothing.’ Burnett got to lead on his own song ‘The Rat Age’ (‘You never thought you’d hear that.’) and Krauss performed ‘Wildwood Rose.’ The show concluded with a stunning version of ‘Gone Gone Gone.’

While there are still rumours of a Led Zeppelin reunion sometime next year, I have no doubt that Plant is finding this tour very satisfying. No one can accuse him of lack of generosity as he often defers to Krauss. (Also, he doesn’t have to live up to ridiculous expectations). Perhaps the most important aspect is that he is singing better than ever – not over-singing as he sometimes did (and was sometimes demanded by the Zeppelin songs).

Let’s hope that the duo make it down to Australia because this is a very special show.

It would be hard to top the Plant/Krauss show but after nearly ten hours of music at ACL Fest more was on the way!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Threadgill’s to see Bob Schneider and his Bluegrass Massacre for what was an amusing, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable two hour set! (The double CD live recording was available about 15 minutes after the show ended). Why Schneider is not a star is a mystery. Perhaps he cannot quite decide what he wants to be: country, rock, punk or bluegrass star? I think he is exceptional.

Then it was off to The Continental Club for Alejandro Escovedo’s midnight show. I had contemplated not going but it has become something of a tradition for me. I arrived soon after the start and while you could not pre-buy tickets I only had to wait maybe 15 minutes before getting in. The place was packed but at this club even the sold out shows are never too uncomfortable. I like the fact also that the door staff resist all sorts of bribes and enticements from people trying to jump the queue.

Talk about talented artists not getting enough recognition. This was another extraordinary show. Different in mood to the ACL Fest set and even more powerful. Escovedo was brilliant – and he closed with Neil Young’s ‘Powderfinger’ and Mott The Hoople’s ‘All Young Dudes.’

I spoke to Alejandro the next day – we had been trying to hook up a face-to-face interview – and he expressed a real desire to come to Australia. He also demonstrated a huge knowledge of Aussie music – from The Scientists to AC/DC.

Sunday September 28

Sometime about 4.00pm I lost my mojo. This is the second time it has happened this year, the other time at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Some might call it hitting the wall but I think it was sunstroke!

Somehow, while standing watching a superb set from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings I managed to get my forehead sunburnt. Just how this happened is a mystery because I was wearing a cap and was facing north. I am fairly certain the sun still sets in the west, even in the USA.

I started to notice the symptoms soon after seeing Xavier Rudd at the WaMu tent – double vision and a splitting headache. I’m not blaming Xavier for this, although his drummer’s bass drum was incredibly loud. I met Xavier (or The Sav, as I call him) after his set and we had a nice chat, once he recognised me and realised I wasn’t some crazy old dude stalking him.

My partner unkindly suggested that my headache was due to the six beers, two Jack Daniels and coke and two vodkas with Red Bull (free sample) that I had the day before. I don’t agree with this, especially now that I can see the red stripe (not the beer) across my forehead.

So much for my theory that you cannot get sunburnt in the USA!

I am please to report that later in the day, while seeing The Gourds at Threadgill’s, my mojo miraculously returned, coinciding with several 16oz cans of Lone Star. Amazing.

Gillian and David Rawlings were superb. They started with ‘Orphan Girl’ before Gillian picked up the banjo for ‘My First Lover.’ ‘Everybody loves a chick with a banjo,’ she joked. Then there was ‘Lonesome Blues,’ a song they recorded with Willie Nelson, which was unfortunately interrupted by sound bleed from the other main stage. “How do we sound with the rhythm section?” asked Welch.

They were joined for a guest spot by none other than Alison Krauss who sang a selection from O Brother (‘Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby’). There was also superb renditions of ‘Look At Miss Ohio’ and ‘I Wanna Play that

By my count there were at least three new songs: ‘Sweet Tooth’ on which Rawlings took lead vocal, ‘Knuckleball Catcher’ (about a baseball layer) and ‘The Way We Will Be’(?). All of which makes one wonder why, with such great new songs, there is not a brand new album out now!

Xavier Rudd drew an impressively large and enthusiastic audience to the WaMu tent and out in a powerful show that elicited huge cheers. Joe Bonamassa on the Austin Ventures stage was a guitarist I had not seen before but his set certainly prompted me to buy his latest CD.

We enjoyed the down home set from South Austin Jug Band at the small BMI stage, then some funky Galactic before enjoying a little of Band Of Horses.

Avoiding The Raconteurs and closing act The Foo Fighters we actually made it back to the hotel for a shower and a change of clothes prior to enjoying a meal and The Gourds in the outside beer garden at Threadgill’s.

It was a fitting way to close the festival weekend. No midnight gigs tonight. By the time the band finished at some time after eleven we were both pretty much exhausted from what is an amazing weekend of music.

Next year the Austin City Limits Festival is being held on the first weekend of October.

Austin City Limits – Friday

First, it should be said that ACL Fest just might be one of the best music festivals that also happens to be in the best music town on the planet. It is a bold claim but after my fifth ACL Fest I cannot envisage not being in Austin for it next year.

To a certain degree I am reluctant to write about the event because, as with many of the musical things we love, I want to keep it to myself and not let everyone know that it is here. Plus, it is hard enough getting accommodation in Austin during the festival as it is!

The fact that the festival was moved back two weeks reduced the weather from scorching to extremely hot – but a lot more pleasant than in the past. The final day was marked by the inevitable dust bowl effect from 65,000 people trampling the grass at Zilker Park, which lies along the river not far from town, but that seemed to be about the only negative. It is the one thing that organisers seem to remain powerless to combat, though I bet they are working on it.

Apart from its eclectic line-up – and more of that later – this has to be one of the best organised events I have ever experienced. Almost every act starts and ends on time – except for our own Aussie Xavier Rudd who was a few minutes late due to technical problems.

But let’s not pretend that everything is perfect. There is some sound bleed between stages – even between the two main stages (AMD & AT&T) which have to be at least 500 yards apart – but this is only really noticeable when an acoustic act like Gillian Welch pays against an electric one like Flyleaf. Robert Plant mentioned how difficult it was with ‘The Village People’ (Beck) in the background. Someone also mentioned to me also that there were not many defined and roped walkways for easy access to the viewing areas.

But these sound like minor quibbles in a massive logistical operation. Everyone enters the festival easily, despite the mandatory bag search, then everyone is whisked away afterwards – many on the hundreds of shuttle buses which ferry them downtown. There are many food stalls showcasing local cuisine and plenty of drink stalls. Toilet facilities are plentiful and there is even some shade to be had

ACL Fest organisers have obviously adhered to the Field Of Dreams tenet: build it and they will come. If you get everything right, and provide a great bill to boot, the audience will support you. I think this is the only festival I know of where the number of tickets was reduced (by 10,000) to make things more comfortable for punters! Tell that to a festival director back home and they’ll call you crazy!

After five ACL Fests I have made things work for me. I managed to book a hotel room within 30 minutes walking distance to the festival – and much more convenient when I can park the rental car at a friend’s place nearby. I have given up trying to get into the Austin Motel or the Hotel San Jose (my two favourite spots) but being nearby is good enough, even though the hotel rate is scary. I can get back from the Fest and go to a gig at Threadgill’s on the way back or have a shower and change if there is a late show.

The Music

On the final day of the festival while waiting to see Gillian Welch, I ran into Australian promoter Brian Taranto, travelling with the Black Keys, who shared some of his philosophy about festivals.

“At my age now,” he intoned, having reached an elderly 41, “I realise that you cannot see everything.”

It is sage advice that should be applicable to Austin City Limits but the problem is that there are so many acts to see that it is difficult to make a decision, and invariably you miss out on something great. And that something great might be one of the acts on the bill that you had never heard of before.

There are eight stages at ACL Fest: two large main ones (AT&T and AMD), two medium ones (ATT Blue Room and Dell)), a kiddies stage, a tent (WaMu), and two smaller stages (Austin Ventures and BMI). This caters for just about every size, volume and ego of act.

Friday September 26

The first day of ACL Fest began with finding a shady spot near the AT&T stage – a base for most of the day. Proceedings began with legendary songwriter Rodney Crowell, whose band now includes Jenny Scheinman (on fiddle and backing vocals), along with Will Kimbrough on guitar.

Crowell highlighted songs from his latest album Sex and Gasoline and even gave Scheinman a chance to play a new song. Crowell remarked that earlier in his career he was concerned with success but now he was just trying to write good songs. They are.

Jakob Dylan’s latest album, Seeing Things, is quite different and seemingly more low key than anything he did with his band The Wallflowers but live with his new band The Gold Mountain Rebels the songs seem to come alive and are much more dynamic.

Songs such as ‘Something Good This Way Comes,’ ‘Evil Is Alive And Well’ and ‘Everybody Pay As They Go’ are punchier than the recording, as you might expect.

Gogol Bordello have to come to Australia. This band of rag tag gypsies really got the audience going – not that I understood the lyrics to any of the songs, apart from the numerous obscenities! I spoke briefly to Sergey, the fiddle player and he says their dream is to tour Australia and they could easily do Womadelaide or The Big Day Out! It is not often at a contemporary music festival that you hear a band where the lead instruments are violin and accordion but it sure works here. (The fetching backing singers/dancers dressed in skate gear with shorts and t-shirts were an added attraction). It is pretty safe to say that with the rollicking music, brightly attired and somewhat eccentric singers, who often break into what appears to be an Eastern European rap, that this band is truly greater than the sum of its parts.

David Byrne’s show was nothing short of spectacular. With the entire ensemble, including Byrne, dressed in white, and dancers slinking across the stage there was a strong visual element for which Byrne has become renowned.

Ostensibly this tour highlights songs from the new album with Brian Eno, Strange Overtones, but the real highlights were the selections from the Talking Heads back catalogue. It was great to hear ‘Houses In Motion’ and ‘Once In A Lifetime’ from Remain In Light and  ‘I Zimbra’ and ‘Life During Wartime’ (which is more relevant than ever) from Fear Of Music.

Listening recently to Remain in Light, I remarked that it has not aged a day in 28 years, and hearing the songs live confirms this. Along with My life In The Bush Of Ghosts, it is an album ahead of its time. I don’t think the new Byrne-Eno collaboration will last quite as long.

Alejandro Escovedo ended the evening on the Austin Ventures stage and showcased songs from his new album Real Animal. He has made strong recovery from the illness that prompted the benefit album Por Vida to help pay his medical bills. The next night I was to enjoy his midnight show at The Continental Café.